16-year-old's violent Byron arrest to be investigated

A PUBLIC hearing date has been set to investigate the conduct of police during the arrest of a 16-year-old male at Byron Bay.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission will hold a public hearing commencing onMonday March 26 to investigate whether any NSW Police Force officer involved in the apprehension, detention or treatment of a 16-year-old male at Lateen Lane, Byron Bay in the early hours of January 11, 2018 engaged in serious misconduct.

CCTV footage aired on A Current Affair showed the boy screaming for help as it appeared the officers held him down, swore at him and struck him with a baton numerous times.

The teen was lying on the roadway when police arrived - police allege pepper spray was used after he became aggressive, and a Taser deployed on the youth after he attempted to assault the officers.

Police said the teenager continued to violently resist officers until he was arrested and taken to Byron Bay police station.

While the footage caused outrage in the community, Police Association executive member for the Northern NSW branch, Brett Henderson-Smith said the "full context" behind the arrest last month wasn't shown when part of the video was aired on national television.

An independent statutory body, the commission's principal functions are to detect, investigate and expose serious misconduct and serious maladministration within the NSW Police Force.

Persons who have information which could assist the commission in relation to the general scope and purpose of the hearing set out above are encouraged to provide that information in writing to the Commission: by email at contactus@lecc.nsw.gov.au; by fax to (02) 9231 6799; or by post to GPO Box 3880, Sydney NSW 2001. Alternatively, information can be provided by telephone on (02) 9321 6700 or toll free on 1800 657 079.

The commission is separate from and completely independent of the NSW Police Force. The commission will treat all information confidentially and has powers to protect persons who provide information to it.

Those persons who seek to appear or be legally represented at the above-mentioned hearing should attend the commission for the purpose of making an application at 10.00 am on Monday March 26, 2018.